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BULLETIN ! : SG is now an obsolete rating. Current ones are SJ/SL/SM/SN

Go to the American Petroleum Institute site and get the ratings guide, use the current standard, and stop stressing over oil ratings. For those still worrying about thin oil and what temperatures are used with what viscosity rating, the bottom of the last page in the PDF file noted below shows the temperature ranges recommendations. PDF file is here:

why would we want to use the current API rated oil when it's specs do not fully meet our engine's requirements for ZDDP and other additives?

SG is still readily available & meets specs as delineated by the manufacturer? again- newer is not necessarily better.

OK here is the REAL truth. When you can no longer get SG rated oils, your bike will implode and melt into an unrecognizable lump of aluminum, steel, copper,magnesium, rubber and plastic, bubble a bit and then reach critical mass and cause a low yield nuclear explosion that will destroy everything within a three mile radius. BEWARE OF USING THE WRONG OIL. OMG !

OK here is the REAL truth. When you can no longer get SG rated oils, your bike will implode and melt into an unrecognizable lump of aluminum, steel, copper,magnesium, rubber and plastic, bubble a bit and then reach critical mass and cause a low yield nuclear explosion that will destroy everything within a three mile radius. BEWARE OF USING THE WRONG OIL. OMG !

Oh... and then EPA will send you a bill for the mess you made !

sooo............just sell it to me now, and save the agony......................... for scrap prices of course

OK here is the REAL truth. When you can no longer get SG rated oils, your bike will implode and melt into an unrecognizable lump of aluminum, steel, copper,magnesium, rubber and plastic, bubble a bit and then reach critical mass and cause a low yield nuclear explosion that will destroy everything within a three mile radius. BEWARE OF USING THE WRONG OIL. OMG !

As oils advance the are typically backwards compatible. Which means they meet and exceed the previous specification and can be used in place of without voiding your warranty.

However, this is not always true with Automatic Transmission Fluids.

A number of European and Asian car makers now ignore the API specs and use the Japanese or European rating systems altogether. The reason is that in some respects the later API specs are not as good as the earlier specs. This is particularly true when it comes to the anti-wear additives. BMW said so regarding their motorcycles when the API went from SH to SJ years ago.

But folks still argue the point on their keyboards even today. Just because the API, under pressure to reduce ZDDP says that a later rating "supercedes" earlier ratings does not mean it is superior in all important respects. I use SG rated oil.

Paul Glaves - "Big Bend", Texas U.S.A
"The greatest challenge to any thinker is stating the problem in a way that will allow a solution." - Bertrand Russellhttp://web.bigbend.net/~glaves/